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NYTimes Continues To Lead

March 16, 2011

This blog cited the NYTimes as being the outstanding source of information on all aspects of the Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami and now Nuclear Disaster. But there was some concern that this was just a weekend affair and the NYTimes would be hard pressed to continue the excellence of its coverage. Let the following excerpts be witness to the continued high standard of coverage. Click on any graphic to go to it on the NYTimes site:
Already reeling from overcrowded and badly supplied evacuation shelters, the weather now plays havoc with late Winter blizzard and a cold snap.

This image captures the immeasurable tragedy that confronts so many individual Japanese.

Meanwhile the number one question remains how much radiation is leaking from the Fukushima Daiichi reactors. This graphics shows the past 3 days of readings. The pattern is a sudden outburst followed by a rapid decline associated with either an explosion or deliberate venting. The problem appears to be less of the core reactors breeching their containment vessels but the leftover “spent” fuel rods losing water moderation and heating up to high temperatures. This problem is elucidated in the Flash slideshow added today:
The problem is that there is very little power available to pump water either to the reactor cores or to the spent rod cooling ponds. What this slideshow makes clear is that the cooling ponds are a)at the top of the structures, b)are practically uncovered and c)pose an even greater threat of radiation leakage if the pools cannot be kept filled with water. So this final interactive diagram is quite useful:
Ye Editor faulted the NYTimes for not having a navigation page to find the wealth of reporting available on the disater by the Times – that unfortunately has not changed. But the above interactive graphic that tells briefly the events and problems confronting all 6 reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi site is most useful. Now there is one place to go to get the latest on whats happening in coping with the nuclear problems.
But perhaps this last picture says it all:Life has truly been upended in Japan.